Ahh... playing the books.
Well the problem with that, even though I've attempted DMing a group of folks who have all read at least some of the books. We don't all focus on the same parts. So even if all of us were there to play (or attempt to play) in that exact universe - we'd still have different expectations.
I'm one of those DM's who will never "do the X universe as written/gamed/whatever". So my "Dresdenverse Campaign" is very not the actual Dresden universe. Not that I think anyone's needs to be, but that's just something I know about myself up front.
On the other hand the campaign I'm currently a gamer in is based on the Harn (detail heavy) rules and the Morrowind (yes, the computer game) universe. I've never seen a DM work harder, but I was lukewarm about the computer game and am totally sucked into the game.
It's all figuring out what I (as DM) really want to set up and what I (as Player) really want to do. I was in a campaign for a while, a post apocalyptic thing, and it was nice for a change, but I have come to realize that I require magic (of some sort) in my worlds. Tried to figure out a way to make Paranoia playable - but for me the 'no magic' was an issue.
I think that the creating the world together is a great tool for playing in any universe derived from something else - everybody gets to put their 2 cents in about what they need in order to make it fun/playable/whatever.